Vikings/Seahawks: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I know I should have written this sooner but when our beloved Purple lose, it's difficult for me to write about it. I'm too upset about the loss and need time to calm down. Plus, they say that you shouldn't write when your upset. You might say something you'll regret.

Going into this game, both before the season started and just days leading up to it, it did not look like a game Minnesota probably would win. Russell Wilson was 5-0 against the Vikings, Kirk Cousins had never won a game on Monday Night Football...AND it's in Seattle.

Speaking of playing in Seattle, doesn't it seem like the Vikings have been there a lot? Well, you're not imaging it...they have. If you go back 13 years, The Vikings and Seahawks have played each other, in regular season games, seven times...and FIVE of those have been in Seattle. Seems weird right?

The 37-30 loss to the SeaChickens drop the Vikings to 8-4 and they lost a game on Green Bay for the division. Now they REALLY need to run the table and hope the Packers lose against the Bears or Lions for a shot at the NFC North.

Here's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from Monday night's game.

THE GOOD:

The First Half: The Vikings scored easily on their first possession. Cook, Ham, Diggs contributed on some big plays in the first half. Plus, Minnesota was on the positive side of one of those weird plays. That pinball Pick 6. The type of play that the Vikings always seem to be on the wrong side of.

Alexander Mattison: He didn't actually score but he had a really good game. He averaged 5.5 yards on his four carries and 12.8 yards on his four receptions. With Cook getting hurt and possibly missing next week's Lions game, I feel good with Mattison filling in.

Kirk Cousins: You cannot blame him for things he has no control over like the defense in the 2nd half, Cook's fumble, Rhodes getting burned. With everything that went wrong in that short span, he almost led the Vikings to a huge comeback win.

Kyle Rudolph: Rudy had another good game and another amazing TD catch. Since Thielen's been out, Rudolph has been huge. It's nice to see him being used more after a quiet start to the season.

THE BAD:

The Second Half: There was actually a specific moment where it all went downhill. The Rhodes personal foul penalty. Here's what happened after that...Seattle TD, Cook Fumble...Seattle FG...Vikings Punt...Seattle TD...Vikings INT = Seattle Pick Six.

Run Defense: Usually it's the unit's strong suit. But Carson and Penny ran all over them. For a team that holds opponents to under 100 yards per game, they allowed 218 yards. Credit the Seahawks for sticking to a plan all game. I thought they didn't exploit our pass defense enough in the 1st half, but they stuck to the run and it paid off in the 2nd half and opened up some big plays.

No Thielen: We were hoping. He was practicing this week. Then word dropped on Sunday that he was out. The Vikings could have really used him. But I would rather not have him re-aggravate the hamstring injury, those thing can linger for a long time and the Vikings will need him the last few games.

THE UGLY: 

Xavier Rhodes: The ugly list should now just be called "The Rhodes". He has been soooo bad, he is actually liability to this team. Word is that Coach Zimmer thinks that there is no one is really ready to take his place but honestly, how much worse can anyone do? Here's how Rhodes did this game. He was thrown at four times, all four were completions for a total of 99 yards and a touchdown.